Love Twists and Turns
by KouRei
Summary: Marinette has a stressful day: Sleeping in class, feeling sick and now fainting during gym class. What next?


To be fair, Marinette hadn't much sleep the night before. She had been up all night trying to finish homework and her new sketches for class. Add Alya talking her ear off about Ladybug and Chat Noir, Marinette had only gotten to bed at 4 in the morning. When her alarm went off in the morning, she had been surprised how refreshed she had felt for only sleeping 3 hours. But that wore off as soon as she sat down in her chair, the fatigue and exhaustion hitting her hard. Her forehead hit her desk hard as she tried her hardest to not fall asleep in class for the billionth time in a row.

She could hear Alya getting into her seat, wincing as her chair made a loud scrap against the floor. Marinette wished she had a headache pill due to the sudden headache appearing in her head. She sighed and tried to lift her head up, looking at Alya.

"Hey."

Alya frowned and felt Marinette's forehead,

"You ok?"

Marinette's flinched at Alya's touch. Her hand as scorching against her skin,

"Yeah I didn't get much sleep remember? We didn't get off the phone until 3 and I still had homework to finish."

Alya shook her head, "You look terrible. You should have stayed at home."

Marinette waved off her friend's concern, "I'll be fine when I get some sleep tonight."

Alya pursed her lips but said nothing, instead she pulled out her phone and showed Marinette the newest photos of Ladybug she had captured. Marinette smiled at her friend before zoning out, letting herself just stare forward. She couldn't even daydream, she was that tired. She looked at her bag, at least Tikki had gotten some sleep. She put her head in her head and yawned, she hadn't felt this tired since that one time an akuma had destroyed the Eiffel Tower because of some weird reason.

She got bored just staring forward and decided to watch everybody come in. There was Rose, a cute girl who hung around Juleka (who was really cool). Ugh there was Chloe, showing her latest "designer" shirt, with Sabrina following her every footstep. Marinette rolled her eyes and smiled when she saw Nathanael come in.

For a while, ever since Nathanael had "taken" her on a date as an akuma, she had been paying more attention to him. Well, she had kept an eye on all her friends that had turned evil but Nathanael was a special case. Knowing he liked her, made Marinette think a little different about him. She started to notice little things about him, like how his hair covered one eye whenever he was shy. He was very timid and didn't like to speak up much but to Marinette, his voice was soft and adorable when he did. Marinette (as Ladybug) also watched over him, watched him sketch beautiful things. Now don't get her wrong, she didn't stalk him (that much), she had watched over everybody as Ladybug, asking Tikki if they were in any danger to turn evil again. The answer had been no and so she only watched over them as Marinette.

Marinette caught Nathanael's eye and smiled, mentally cackling as he turned red and rushed to his seat. That boy was too easy to tease. She turned her attention from Nathanael and sighed as she saw Adrien come in. That boy was gorgeous, with that soft blond hair and deep green eyes. Marinette ignored the chuckling coming from Alya and coughed into her hand. The exhaustion hit her eve harder and she struggled to keep her eyes open. She finally gave up and put her head into her hands, prepared to sleep the lecture away.

"Marinette? Are you ok?"

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows before turning to whoever was talking to her. She gulped when she saw it was Adrien but unfortunately, her being tired meant she couldn't even bother acting like her clumsy self. Alya saw this and chimed in,

"She didn't get much sleep. She stayed up doing homework."

Alya turned to Marinette and smirked, just remembering that would make Marinette swear on the inside,

"Homework that isn't due for another 2 days."

Marinette cursed and groaned, she had stayed up doing homework that wasn't due until Thursday? Damn. She gave Alya the evil eye and stuck her tongue out, blushing when Adrien laughed.

"That sucks. I hope you feel better Marinette."

Marinette smiled and nodded, proud for not making the usually stuttering noises. Adrien sat down and started talking with Nino, laughing at a joke he made. Marinette closed her eyes and waited for class to start. But when Marinette opened her eyes, ready to pay attention to her teacher, she noticed everybody just standing around. She frowned and turned to Alya, who was texting.

"Why is everybody standing around?"

Alya turned to her, "Girl, you fell asleep and I couldn't even wake you up. Good thing you didn't snore this time."

Marinette's shoulders sagged, she couldn't believe she had fallen asleep in class. She felt like she didn't get any rest at all. She sighed and looked at the time, 12:48pm. It was almost time for them to go to gym class. Marinette didn't get why they had to have gym class but Alya said that they didn't want children growing up without exercise or something like that. Marinette gathered her things and followed Alya to the girl's locker room, struggling to open her locker and change. She hoped all they did was play a simple game and not do anything active, she knew she couldn't do much.

Everybody stared at the obstacle course and Marinette hung her head, nothing was going her way today huh? She knew that the gym teacher had it out for her ever since she accidentally showed her up in a small race they had done earlier in the year. She looked around for a nice place to sit and hide but she heard that dreaded whistle and cursed, it was time for gym to start.

Marinette and the girls lined up and watched as the boys did the same. Their teacher had a wicked grin on her face as she pointed to the course,

"Today we will be doing this obstacle course. One by one, you guys will go and do the course. The three with the best time don't have to participate in tomorrow's class."

She looked at everybody, thinking on what order they would all go in. She smirked and pointed out Alya first, "You first and Sabrina next. Then Nino and Ivan and once they go, Marinette and Rose then go." She finished up the list with Chloe going last because she knew that Chloe would take the longest. Marinette sat down on the floor and watched Alya as she made her way through the course. She rested her head against the bleachers and closed her eyes, not noticing a pair of eyes watching her.

Nathanael frowned as he watched Marinette rest against the bleachers. She looked very pale and sickly in his opinion. He had overheard Marinette talking to Alya, feeling bad over the fact she didn't get much sleep. He wanted to go over and have her cuddle against him. He blushed when Juleka nudged his side and smirked, she had noticed his starring. She leaned in to whisper in his ear,

"Go over and give her this."

Juleka handed him a thermos, giving her a confused look. She smiled,

"It's a honey tea. My mother made it for me for my sore throat but Rose made me some green tea. Have Marinette drink it and she should perk up a bit."

Nathanael grinned at Juleka and nodded, slowly making his way towards Marinette. He avoided Chloe and Sabrina, smiling at Ivan trying to impress Mylene and eyed Adrien who was also looking at Marinette. He knew that Adrien had an obsession with Ladybug but Nathanael had a feeling that he had a small crush on Marinette. Proof? Nathanael remembered one day when he was in the locker room for everybody. He had been watching Marinette when he had noticed Adrien casting glances at her. When Nathanael had walked by Adrien, he had heard him whisper the word 'princess'. Now maybe he wasn't talking about Marinette but even Nathanael had his only nickname for her: My Angel.

He shook his head, ignoring all thoughts except for getting Marinette the tea. He finally stood over Marinette and quietly sat down next to her. He shook her shoulder softly, blushing at the sound of her moan. Her eyes turned to him, confused. She whispered, "Nathanael?"

Nathanael gathered up his courage and thrusted the thermos towards her. "H-h-h-here."

Marinette looked at the thermos before taking it. She opened it and looked inside,

"What's in it?"

Nathanael bit his lip, "Honey tea. I thought it would help since you look tired."

Marinette snorted and gave Nathanael a beautiful smile that made his heart almost burst. "Thank you Nathanael. I really needed something like this."

Nathanael watched her drink the tea and smiled as she looked blissful. The tea really must have helped more than he thought it would. She finished off the thermos and sighed, savoring the taste of honey on her tongue. The honey tea had soothed her nerves and given her a little boost. Unfortunately it also made her a little sleepier than what she been but god it was an improvement. Marinette gave the thermos back to Nathanael and gave him a wink.

"Thanks Nathanael, hopefully this gets me through the day."

He nodded, proud he had helped Marinette out.

"Marinette you're next!"

Marinette groaned and pouted, turning to Nathanael, "Well my work is never done. To the obstacle course!"

She got up, ignoring the wobbly feeling in her legs. She waved away Nathanael's concern and walked to the start line for the course. Drinking that tea really helped her wake up a bit but her limbs still felt like lead. She eyed the obstacle course and pursed her lips, she was going to have to be really careful on the pommel horse or she would totally hurt her arms on the pommel horse. She waited for the teacher's signal, looking at Alya's thumbs up.

Marinette heard the whistle and set off, calmly jumping over small pits. She controlled her breathing so she wouldn't get so tired. But she could feel the sweat running down her face. She barely made it halfway through the course when the fatigue quickly came back. She took a small break and wiped her forehead. All she needed to do was now jump over the pommel horse. She coughed into her hand before running towards the pommel horse, arms bracing themselves and holding on to the handles there. She held herself over the horse, trying to summon the strength to push herself over the horse. She finally got over the pommel horse and finished the course, going over to stand next to Alya when the world became blurry to her. She felt herself slip to the floor and close her eyes. It looked like she had overexerted herself and now she was passing out.

Everyone watched as Marinette fell to the floor, Nathanael and Alya reaching her first despite the fact Nathanael had been nowhere near her. Adrien came up to Alya and put his hand against Marinette's forehead,

"She's got a fever."

Alya looked at Marinette and started to pet her head. "Why don't you and Nathanael carry her to the nurse's office and I'll tell our teachers what happened? Come on Nino, come with me."

Alya dragged Nino with her and Adrien turned to Nathanael, nodding his head and grabbing one arm of Marinette to put over his shoulder. Nathanael did the same and they made their way to the infirmary. Adrien took a look at Marinette, frowning. He hadn't noticed at all that she wasn't feeling good. He had been too busy thinking about that day's homework and nighttime patrol. Her face looked so pale and he could see the sweat drip off her nose. There were bags under her eyes, really dark ones. Adrien knew those only happened when you had many nights without sleep. He wondered what kept her up at night.

His thoughts almost made him miss seeing the nurse's office. He and Nathanael stopped and opened the door, scaring the nurse. She pointed them to the only empty bed available and started checking her over.

"What happened to her?"

Adrien looked at Nathanael before answering, "She fainted in class. I think it's exhaustion."

The nurse nodded and checked Marinette's forehead, wincing at hot it was before checking her pupils. She thought of many conditions before turning to the boys.

"This is a case of overexertion. Thank you boys for bringing her in. You may go back to class."

The boys nodded, giving Marinette one last glace before exiting the room. They were quiet on the way back to class, each with their own thoughts. Nathanael thought about sketching something cute for Marinette while Adrien was planning to text his driver to pick some flowers for Marinette. The class turned to look at them when they entered the class. Nathanael went to his seat and flipped open his sketchbook, intent on drawing Marinette a beautiful landscape. Adrien looked at Alya and gave her a nod, watching her sigh in relief. He sat down and quickly pulled out his phone. He ordered some roses and lilies to be picked up.

Class went by slower than what anyone anticipated. They all looked at their phones, waiting for class to end so they can go and visit Marinette. Their teacher sighed and closed her textbook,

"Obviously you guys aren't paying attention so class is over. Read chapters 5 and 7 and do the assigned homework."

They all watched as their teacher left the room. A few seconds of silence went by before Alya packed up her things and rushed out the room, everyone else basically following her except for Chloe and Sabrina. They reached the infirmary and crowded around the door until the nurse came outside.

"I will only allow 4 at a time!"

Everyone looked around before going to Alya, telling her to tell Marinette to get well soon before most of them left, having other things to do. Adrien looked at his phone and smiled as his driver was on his way with the flowers. Only Nino, Nathanael, Adrien and Alya were left. Alya gave Nathanael a knowing look before going inside.

When the boys left, Marinette soon opened her eyes. She looked around and found herself looking into the eyes of the nurse. She felt a hand on her forehead,

"Hey there, how do you feel?"

Marinette opened her mouth but no sound came out. The nurse hummed and help Marinette drink some water.

"Have you been getting enough sleep Marinette? Are you stressed?"

Marinette sighed, "I haven't been getting enough sleep. There's been a lot of nights where I stay up doing homework. I guess I'm a little stressed out."

The nurse nodded and got up, retrieving a little plastic baggie with a couple smaller satchels inside. She gave it to Marinette,

"What is this?"

"Herbal tea. I give this to stressed out students. It's designed to help lull you to sleep."

Marinette smiled and thanked her.

"Now you need to rest. Take a hour or two everyday to simply relax or nap, it will help a lot."

Marinette smiled, about to reply when the hall outside the infirmary suddenly filled with noise. The nurse turned to the door with a frown, her heels clicking on the floor as she made her way outside. Marinette ignored the nurse as she examined the satchels of herbal tea. Hopefully these would help her sleep.

She sighed and looked out the window of the infirmary. This was a bit of a bother, her being tired. It was going to get in her way of being Ladybug but what else could she do but rest and maybe daydream. She thought Adrien, who was a kind and hot guy and Nathanael who was a shy but incredibly talented guy. Adrien was the first guy that had given her such a beautiful smile, one that had brighten her dull days. Marinette had needed that smile to get her through a particular hard day and from there, she subtly stalked him. Maybe she had taken it too far, like digging through he trash but Marinette was so scared that he wouldn't like her, that she wasn't good enough to even get 5 minutes of talking with him. So instead she went ahead and just learned everything about him, which even creeped her out sometimes.

Then there was Nathanael, who was so sweet and kind to her. Marinette didn't know that much about him except he could draw. She loved seeing work for class and wished she could draw just like him. Marinette really liked the way he looked, with his deep eyes and bright colored hair. It was unlike Adrien's but she loved it just the same. Once Marinette got some more sleep, she would try and get to know Nathanael some more and maybe make him something in exchange for the tea he had given her.

Marinette turned her attention to the doorway as the nurse came back in with Alya, Adrien and Nathanael. She grinned and waved at them, "Hey guys!"

Alya gave her that look and Marinette shrank into the bed, waiting the scolding she knew she was going to get.

"Do you think that was funny!? Ugh you're trying to kill me with a heart attack huh?!"

Alya sat on her bed and hugged her, cuddling and patting her back. Marinette smiled and hugged Alya back before turning to the boys. "Hey sorry for scaring you guys. Thanks for carrying me."

Adrien smiled, "It's ok as long as you rest up."

Marinette smiled and nodded, turning to Nathanael. He had a determined look on his face as he walked up to Marinette. He thrusted a paper to Marinette and gulped.

Marinette looked at the paper and smiled widely. It was a gorgeous picture of a garden landscape, full of flowers and ladybugs. There was a tiny Marinette holding a rose and smiling back at her, dresses in a cute blue summer dress. Marinette loved it and looked at Nathanael.

"Thank you, it's so pretty."

Nathanael blushed and murmured a 'you're welcome' before the door to the infirmary opened and a huge man came in with a bouquet of roses and lilies. Adrien thanked his driver and turned to Marinette, handing her the flowers.

"For you."

Marinette grinned and smelled the flowers, picking up a sweet scent that had her nerves soothed.

Alya looked at both boys and gave them both a knowing look and chuckled, they were in deep.

Marinette flinched back as a ladybug landed on her nose, having hid in the flowers. She laughed and watched as the ladybug flew into between Adrien and Nathanael, intent on escaping the big humans. Marinette blushed as she knew the superstition about catching a ladybug and smiled. She looked at both boys and smirked, the future was going to be very interesting. Even as Alya was given her that look that meant squeals and extreme girl talking later.

(A/N: This is also posted on my tumblr: Miranoir-ff and on my AO3: ShinkengerRedBlue)


End file.
